Police chief: We know who killed Rhys Jones

Bernard Hogan-Howe, chief constable of the Merseyside force, said his officers were building a case against the gunman and were confident that he would be brought to justice.

Rhys, 11, was caught in the cross-fire of rival gangs in Liverpool as he walked home from football training more than two months ago.

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The name of his killer, a 16-year-old hooded youth captured on CCTV riding his mountain bike away from the Fir Tree Pub, Croxteth Park, shortly after the shooting, is being widely circulated in the local community.

Last week his identity, which is known to the Daily Mail, but cannot be revealed for legal reasons, was broadcast on Internet site YouTube, alongside footage of gang members brandishing guns and vicious dogs.

The youth is believed to be on the periphery of the Croxteth or Croccy Crew gang, who carried out the shooting as part of an "initiation" task to prove himself and move up the hierarchy.

His intended target was thought to have been a 19-year-old rival from the Strand or Nogga Dogz gang, who operate in neighbouring suburb Norris Green.

Police have already arrested and questioned the teenager, who has been released on bail, but are still lacking the crucial evidence they need to bring charges.

Mr Hogan-Howe spoke directly to the killer via a local BBC radio station and warned him the net was closing in.

"We know who you are and are building a case against you," he said.

So far 18 people have been arrested in connection with Rhys' murder, but no-one has yet been charged.

However, the chief constable said that despite the apparent lack of developments, much was being done behind the scenes to ensure Rhys's killer would eventually be brought to justice.

"What we can't do is shout about all the success we have, all the times we take a statement and all the times that people tell us another bit of the story," Mr Hogan-Howe said.

"There has been wide reporting that people haven't come forward, but people have come forward and spoken to us.

"I do understand an event like this knocks people's confidence in the justice system and yes there may be times when people worry it's not working but on the whole it does work and it will work in this case.

"So people have to judge us on the circumstances that develop over the next few weeks and months. We will get the person who committed this crime."

Despite two appeals on the BBC's Crimewatch, including a reconstruction of the shooting, police believe key witnesses have yet to come forward.

They are still trying to trace a woman in a red car, who almost ran over the gunman as he fled the scene, and a teenage boy on a silver BMX bike who was in the pub car park shortly before Rhys died.

Leaflets have been dropped at houses in the Croxteth area and police have sent text messages to mobile phones of residents who live close to the crime scene in a bid to encourage the witnesses to come forward.